Can-opening wrench



June 5, 1923.

T. HARDING ET AL CAN OPENING WRENCH Filed April 5 1922 I ATTOR/VELS' bythe following description.

shown in Figure 1, and 40 Patented .lune 5,

' UNITED ST 'rHoMAs HARDING am) BERNARD BIEHL, sit; or n WARK, nnwinnsnz-nssrenons' T0 :r. L. SOMMER MANUFACTURING 00., A CORPQRATIONZQENEW JERSEY. j

' icniv-ornnrne WRENCH." I a. a

Application filed April 5,

vide an improved wrench more especially for opening that class of cans,jars, bottles or the like, which have screw tops orcaps;

to provide such a wrench which shall be capable of, fitting a largerange of sizes of such capsor tops, and engage them all firmly andsecurely; to enable the wrench to bequickly and easily applied to tops,or caps of various sizes, without any particular care or adjust ment; tosecure such an arrangement-of the jaws for smaller tops or caps, withrespect to the other. jaws, that they serve as a stop to engage the topor cap and position the wrench; to strengthen the jaws of the wrench sothat they will not spring or twist out of their proper plane; to effectsuch strengthening by having the jaws for the smaller sizes-of tops orcap reenforce the, jaws for larger sizes, and to obtain'other resultsand advantages as may be brought out Referring to the accompanyingdrawings, in. which like numerals of reference indicate the same partsthroughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a plan viewof'our improved wrench applied to a large-sizedcantopor Figure 2 is an edge view of the wrench;

Figure 3 is a side view of the can top Figure 4 is a detail'viewillustrating the operation of a pivotal link connecting. the

In sai'd'drawings 1',"1 indicate the two jaws of our improved wrench,each comprising heavy sheet metal sections joined as hereinafterdescribed, two adjacent ends of said jaws being pivotally connected by alink 2 and the other twoends provided with handles 3, 3 by which thejaws are manipulated. j I

Each jaw portion l is provided at one side of the wrench with anauxiliary portion '6 disposed in a chordal relation to the portion 4:and extending from the pivotal connection of the jaws to the link 2* ata of the jaws being of less' with the main portion 4; of the vjaw, thesetwo auxiliary or chordal portions 6,6 being provided at their adjacentedges with ser-' farthest fromlthe pivoting of the jaws being of greaterradius and adapted to graspa can top or cover somewhat. smaller thanthat grasped" by thefmain portion 4, 4', of the jaws, and thencurve 7,7,-next the pivoting radius'to grasp a stillsmaller top or'cap. f 1 j 2Eachv hordal portion .6 receives at"--'o ne end, between itself and theend of'the main portion 4:, one endof the link 2', and apivot 9 for saidlink. extends through all three parts, being headed orjrivetedcover atits ends to hold them, together and {yet permit free pivotal movementQThe other endof ea ch chordal portion 6 is secured to' the main portion4: by.- I a "doubleendedf rivet having a washer-like bodyportionl'Ofwhich lies between theportionsz and (Yas does, r

the. link 2, so as to hold them parallel, and has its two reduced endsextending through perforations in said portions! and 6 f-respectivelyand-riveted asiat'ffll and 12 to hold said gether, I v v v, The smallserrated curves 7, '1 and, 8,8 Tofr i n 1fi mly,ending-i 9 rations areidle, and by reason iofthe chordal "and rigid relation ofsaidjgauxiliaryf por- .tions 6, Gwith efer nce to the mampen tions 14,4, they brae and reenforce' .said

of as light stock as we employ which w ld. v

100 In applying the wrench to a large can top not spring or twist undersevere usage.

or cap, it will benoticed that the chordal portions 6, 6 lie onthe topof the cap, as shown in Figure 2, and automatically posi-' tion thelarge jaws on said cap. In using 105 the two smaller sizes of. jaws,thewrench can either be used the same side up, or if v the large jawsare for any reason in the way,

the wrench canbe-turned over and used the other side up.

the auxiliary or chordal portionsfi are thus disposed or set inwardlyfrom. the serrate-d. curvesof the main portions .4, so that when theycan engage. smallcaps'theother ser- The link 2 not only positions theaws of our wrench so that they engage on nearly diametrically oppositesides of a top or cap, but it also ensures such positioning of the jawsregardless of their relative position when applied to the top or cap.That is to say, if the jaws are not symmetrically opposite but somewhatout of such relation as shown in full lines in Figure l, when applied toa top or cap, pressure upon the handles will automatically draw theminto the desired opposite relation, as shown in dotted lines in saidFigure 4-, without any particu lar attention or voluntary adj .stment bythe operator. Preferably one of the chordal or ai'ixiliary jaw portions6 is extended at the pivotal end of the wrench and shaped into a bottleopener 13, and the tree extremities of the handles 3, 3 are alsopreferably made wedge-shaped as at 1% for tion beneath the tange of afriction can top such as is used to contain many articles for thekitchen or household.

Various detail modifications and changes can be made by those skilled inthe art in the manufacture of our improved wrenches without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the invention, and we do not wish to beunderstood as limiting ourselves except required by the following claimswhen construed in the light of the prior art. I

' Having thus described the invention, what we claim is:

" 1. In a. wrench, the combination of gripping jaws pivotally connectedat two of their adjacent ends and having handles at their other ends,said jaws comprising cooperating main portions oppositely bowed apartand chordal portions on said main portions offset from the planethereof, all said portions having their oppositely adjacent edgesadapted to grippingly engage an article.

2. In a wrench, the combination of gripping jaws pivotally connected attwo of their adjacent ends and having handles at theirother ends, saidjaws comprising cooperating main portions oppositely bowed apart andchordal portions secured at their ends thereto and spaced therefrom attheir middle portions, all said portions having their oppositelyadjacent edges adapted to grippingly engage an article.

. 3. In a wrench, the combination t gripping jawspivotally' connected attheir adjacent ends and having handles at their other ends. said jawseach comprising spaced parallel portions having arcuate appositelyadjacent edges to grippingly enan article, the oppositely adjacentarcuate edges in differentplanes being termed with ditlt'erent radii togrippingly engage articles of different sizes.

4. In. a wrench. the combination of gripping jaws 'iivotally connectedat their adjacent ends and having handles at their other ends. each atsaid jaws comprising a main portion and an auxiliary portion semred tosaid main portion in spaced and substantially parallel relation there oand extending trons. the pointot nivotal'connection of saidsubstantially to the handle. both said portions having their oppositelyadjacent edges formed to grip an article.

5. In a wrench. the combination of gripping jaws pivotally connected. attheir ad jacent ends and having handles at their other ends, said jawscomprising cooperatinain portions oppositely bowed apart andlongitudinal reentorcing portions on said main portions, both said mainportions and reentorcing portions having their op- }osite adjacent edgesadapted to grippingly engage an article.

6. In a wrench, the combination of gripping jaws pivotally connected attheir adjacent ends and having handles at their other ends, said jawscomprising cooperating main portions oppositely bowed apart andlongitudinal reentorcing portions on said main portions ofi'set from theplane of the main portions. oppositely adjacent edges of said mainportions and of said reenforcing portions being formed on difterentradii to grip an article.

7. In a wrench. the combination of gripping pivotally connected at theiradjacent ends and having handles at their other ends, said jawscomprising cooperating portions with gripping edges oppositely bowedapart and longitudinal. re.- enforcingportions onsaid main portionsoffset from the plane of the main portions and having each a pluralityof gripping arcs of different radii to engage articles of 4 differentsizes THOMAS HARDING. BERNARD BIEHL, SR.

